FDI in Bulgaria in January-September 2016 was 1.27B euro

Foreign direct investment in Bulgaria in the first nine months of 2016 stood at 1.27 billion euro, the equivalent of 2.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), statistics from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) showed on November 16. In the same period of 2015, FDI was 1.61 billion euro, but the original amount reported by BNB last year was 1.1 million euro, which was revised upward later.

Investment in equity, including in the real estate sector, stood at 298.2 million euro (compared to 940.5 million euro in the first nine months of 2015) and re-invested earnings accounted for 594.2 million euro (versus 610.8 million euro a year earlier), according to preliminary data.

Net receipts from real estate investments by foreign entities totalled 53.6 million euro, compared to 46.8 million euro during the same period of 2015.

The central bank data showed 378.8 million euro in investment inflows as debt instruments, recorded as the change in the net liabilities of Bulgarian companies towards their foreign investor owners, compared to 59.1 million euro in January-September 2015. Such financial flows include financial loans, suppliers’ credits and debt securities, BNB said.

By country, the largest direct investment in Bulgaria in January-September 2016 came from the Netherlands (233.2 million euro), Germany (187.8 million euro) and Greece (171.9 million euro).

According to preliminary figures, Bulgarian investment abroad increased by 107.2 million euro in the first nine months of 2016, compared to 44.7 million euro in the same period of last year, BNB said./IBNA